CoD eyes parliament return
Promises to tackle excessive land ownership by private individuals
The party has been relatively dormant over the last decade, with many of its prominent figures disappearing into the political wilderness.
Once a major threat to the political dominance of the ruling Swapo Party, the Congress of Democrats (CoD) says it is on a mission to return to parliament after losing out on a parliamentary seat during the 2014 and 2019 national elections.
Since entering the local political domain, the party saw its representation in the National Assembly shrink from seven seats in 1999 to none now. The party has also been relatively dormant over the last decade, with many of its prominent figures disappearing into the political wilderness.
Its president Vaino Amuthenu assured they are "on the ground, working hard”.
While he fears that the party faces extinction if it does not manage to crawl its way back to parliament, he remains optimistic that CoD still commands support among the electorate.
“We are determined to fight until 27 November. I have a big network to ensure that we get votes everywhere. Be on the lookout for CoD,” a confident Amuthenu said.
Reviving the party
Asked why the party’s campaign activities have not been noticeable, Amuthenu retorted: “We are not hunting people like animals, we opted to go village to village where people have organised themselves to engage them”.
“That is why you are seeing CoD flags all the way from Omuthiya to Oshakati, these things never happened before so it shows that the people are eager to vote for CoD,” he said.
Amuthenu added that “there is a need to seriously revive the party”.
“Once we do that, we can then plan further to take over the government,” he said.
According to the party’s manifesto, if elected into power: “The CoD shall promote and actively pursue land and Agrarian reform, which will ensure the optimal utilisation of agricultural land by all Namibians to the benefit of the nation as a whole".
The party plans to follow the 'three Rs principle': "Restoration, restitution and reparations, which shall follow the approach of peaceful and orderly restoration of access to national land to all our communities".
Land ownership
The party also vowed to restrict excessive land ownership by private individuals, which is to the detriment of communities, it claimed.
“We must reform land use, including redistributing farming and agricultural land to landless farming communities. As part of a comprehensive, well-planned land-reform programme, we need to overhaul, unify, build and modernise farming and agricultural production into a commercially profitable industry and a proud, major building block to the country's economy," it said.
CoD also promised to “deliberately pursue a gender-balanced policy, and specifically promote the advancement of women as well as protect the interest of our marginalised community members”.
“The party is determined to instil a service culture among its leadership and to empower party structures to hold leaders accountable and to remove them if they cannot meet the expectations of their respective constituencies,” its manifesto read.
It further stated: “The prompt and immediate service delivery to communities that need it shall be one of our priority concerns".
NamibiaDecides2024
Since entering the local political domain, the party saw its representation in the National Assembly shrink from seven seats in 1999 to none now. The party has also been relatively dormant over the last decade, with many of its prominent figures disappearing into the political wilderness.
Its president Vaino Amuthenu assured they are "on the ground, working hard”.
While he fears that the party faces extinction if it does not manage to crawl its way back to parliament, he remains optimistic that CoD still commands support among the electorate.
“We are determined to fight until 27 November. I have a big network to ensure that we get votes everywhere. Be on the lookout for CoD,” a confident Amuthenu said.
Reviving the party
Asked why the party’s campaign activities have not been noticeable, Amuthenu retorted: “We are not hunting people like animals, we opted to go village to village where people have organised themselves to engage them”.
“That is why you are seeing CoD flags all the way from Omuthiya to Oshakati, these things never happened before so it shows that the people are eager to vote for CoD,” he said.
Amuthenu added that “there is a need to seriously revive the party”.
“Once we do that, we can then plan further to take over the government,” he said.
According to the party’s manifesto, if elected into power: “The CoD shall promote and actively pursue land and Agrarian reform, which will ensure the optimal utilisation of agricultural land by all Namibians to the benefit of the nation as a whole".
The party plans to follow the 'three Rs principle': "Restoration, restitution and reparations, which shall follow the approach of peaceful and orderly restoration of access to national land to all our communities".
Land ownership
The party also vowed to restrict excessive land ownership by private individuals, which is to the detriment of communities, it claimed.
“We must reform land use, including redistributing farming and agricultural land to landless farming communities. As part of a comprehensive, well-planned land-reform programme, we need to overhaul, unify, build and modernise farming and agricultural production into a commercially profitable industry and a proud, major building block to the country's economy," it said.
CoD also promised to “deliberately pursue a gender-balanced policy, and specifically promote the advancement of women as well as protect the interest of our marginalised community members”.
“The party is determined to instil a service culture among its leadership and to empower party structures to hold leaders accountable and to remove them if they cannot meet the expectations of their respective constituencies,” its manifesto read.
It further stated: “The prompt and immediate service delivery to communities that need it shall be one of our priority concerns".
NamibiaDecides2024
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article